


Save That Light

by mezzorellasticks



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Adrift AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ford Pines and Mabel Pines Bonding, Gen, Honestly everyone is protective, Mabel Pines Goes Through The Portal, Older Mabel Pines, Ooooh I know, Post-Weirdmageddon, Protective Ford Pines, The Portal (Gravity Falls)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22194760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzorellasticks/pseuds/mezzorellasticks
Summary: After being separated from her Grunkle Ford, Mabel is used to roaming the many dimensions on her own. However, after an encounter with a group of slaveholders reunites her with her beloved great-uncle, they enlist the help of some inner-dimensional friends that appear far less threatening than they truly are. Meanwhile, a distressed Dipper and Stanley continue to unravel the mystery that took their siblings away from them again in hopes of making their family whole once again.
Relationships: PLATONIC FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS ABOUND BITCHES
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

There was something beautiful about the expanse of sand in this dimension. Maybe not beautiful, but certainly ethereal, with the sun shining against the endless golden waves.

Granted, Mabel realized that she wouldn’t have been thinking that if she had been walking through this desert dimension. Thank God the cloud people had given her this hoverboard. She was extra grateful that the friendly monarchy she had met a few months ago didn’t know that she referred to them as “cloud people” in her head, and that she called their superior, cloud-magic-driven vehicle a hoverboard.

What else was she supposed to call it? It rode around a few feet of the ground, it was faster than she could run, it was a lot less tiring- it was a board that hovered!

She pushed that thought from her mind; she was only passing through this dimension anyway. It looked deserted, and there was nothing for her in deserted dimensions…

Would she find what she was looking for in any dimension?

_Shut up,_ she told herself. _Of course you will, Negative Nelly._

But the multiverse was endless. Each dimension was endless. And she was just a speck in each one.

And he was just a speck in one. They used to be two specks, existing alongside each other, fighting their way through the many worlds…

And then he was kidnapped. Then Mabel was on her own, a fourteen-year-old girl alone in the most dangerous place in the world.

And her Great Uncle Stanford was God knows where.

So Mabel kept riding through the desert, waiting to feel the exit of the dimension. She remembered her Grunkle Ford teaching her how to sense weak spots in each dimension; more often than not, the hair on her arms would stand on end. When she got closer, gooseflesh would erupt on her skin. Once her fillings started rattling, it was time to fire up the old doorator (a pet name that Mabel used for the device Ford invented; it was a tricky little tool that forced portals to open. It was significantly less faulty after she let the Cloud People tamper with it) and jump to the next dimension.

Something on the horizon appeared; the dimension wasn’t deserted! She sped forward, anxious to get a better look at the inhabitants. She liked meeting the aliens; most of the time, she could get them to respect and even like her. Back when Ford used to take her to markets, he told her that people were kinder with him because he had a child to care for. Childcare, it seemed, transcended dimensions.

As Mabel got closer, she saw that holes were littering the sand. Someone had been digging holes, lots of them.

And then she saw what had been digging.

An endless line of misery, of aliens of all different shapes and sizes, all united by a single, everlasting chain, stood before her. Everyone had a matching shackle around their neck; they had to keep adjusting their heads as they dug.

One of them in particular caught Mabel’s eye; they were sporting the same cropped haircut as the rest, but this one looked…human. He looked like a human man, complete with brand shoulders and lines on his forehead.

And then he fell; his knees gave way, either due to exhaustion or sickness, but he collapsed.

Mabel winced. She knew what she should do, she should go about her business, she couldn’t save everyone from everything. That was one of the first things that Ford told her when they discovered they were trapped, once again, outside of their dimension.

_“Others are going to suffer, and that’s outside of our control.” He told her. “The best- really the only thing we can do, is make sure that we are okay.”_

_“I’ll be okay,” She told him, bravely smiling._

_“I know you will, because I’ll look out for you, my dearest.” He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders._

But Grunkle Ford wasn’t here now. And maybe he was relying on the kindness (meddling) of strangers.

And this stranger needed the kindness of a sixteen-year-old human girl.

  
So Mabel rode to his collapsed form.

“Hey,” She said, dismounting beside him. “Do you want some water? C’mon, can you get up for me? I’m not going to hurt you.”

The being reached forward, grabbing her water skin with hands-

He had six fingers.

  
Mabel stared, transfixed, at his hands. He had six fingers.

“Oh, my God…” She breathed, grabbing the captor’s hands in her own. “Grunkle Ford!”

The man looked up at her, allowing her to see into his warm brown eyes. They had the same eyes.

“Grunkle Ford, it’s Mabel! Don’t you remember your Mabel? Oh, never mind that, I’m getting you out of here!”

“Hey!”

Mabel turned; there was a warden coming towards her, a nasty looking whip in his talons.

“What do you want with our slave, girl?” He growled. “Get up, you useless slug!” He added, raising his whip above Ford.

“No!” She cried, whipping her crossbow (a new and improved crossbow, also thanks to the cloud people) out of her pack. “Don’t you touch him!”

The monster saw her weapon and recoiled.

“Alright, alright…” He said, backing away. “T-take him if you must, just get out of here.”

“Unchain him. Now.” Mabel demanded. He hastily complied, cutting Ford loose from the chain and removing the shackle from his neck.

Mabel stuffed her crossbow back in her pack, watching him run away, his claws leaving prints in the sand.

“Alright,” She said, kneeling down and placing Ford’s arm around her shoulders. “Are you alright?”

Ford nodded his head.

“Did you hear what he said?” Mabel asked. He shook his head; that was when Mabel realized that Ford had lost his translator. Their very first day after falling through the makeshift portal, Grunkle Ford had handed Mabel an earpiece that automatically translated alien languages. Hers hadn't left her ear the entire time she had been off of earth, for over two years, now.

He hadn’t understood a thing that his captors had said.

“We’re getting out of here,” She said, helping him stand. “C’mon, we can take my hoverboard for a little while, I think there’s a weak spot in the dimension ahead.”

She helped him onto her board.

“I can walk,” He said, his voice regaining his strength.

“Not right now,” She said, shaking her head. “You can show me how strong you are when we get you somewhere safe.”

oOo

The next dimension, thank God, was more than sand. It had trees that were taller than buildings with strong, thick trunks and four-foot wide leaves that created pools of water inside themselves from the rain overhead. The lush forest floor was soft and cool, with mountains that scraped the blue-grey sky.

And there was a cave on a cliff, overlooking a huge, rushing ocean. It only took Mabel a moment to set up camp and situate Ford against her bedroll. After they were settled, she finally took stock of her great uncle at long last.  
  
“Alright,” She said, kneeling by his side. “Does anything feel…broken?”  
  
He shook his head.

“So what hurts the most? Because I know you’re in pain.”

“My shoulder hurts- but I can dress that myself-“

“No,” She said, gently pushing him back against the bedroll. “You need to rest.”

Ford’s shoulder, as she realized when she revealed his wound, was in worse shape than he let on. Her stomach turned at the blood, at the bruises…

She bound and bandaged it as quickly as she could, trying not to fret about all the other scraps and bruises and little injuries that littered his arms and neck.

“Alright,” She said, nodding her head. “Alright, that’s that. How about we get some food in you, and- hm?”

Ford was holding his arms out, the way that Grunkle Stan used to invite her for a hug. She moved towards him cautiously; Ford almost never hugged her, not even when she was little.

But as soon as she was closer to him, he wrapped his arms around her and held her against him, resting his chin on top of her head.

“I thought you were gone for good,” He said, starting to sound like his old self again. “I thought I was going to die in that terrible place, and then there was my Mabel, here to rescue her Grunkle Ford again.”

She smiled and returned his embrace. “I never st-stopped…” Her voice broke.

“Ah,” Ford said, starting to rock her gently. “Don’t cry, sweetheart, we’re alright now.”

But they both held one another and cried quietly, cried with relief and gratitude that they were together once again.

“Alright,” She said after a while, wiping her eyes and extracting herself from his embrace. “Alright. Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving,” He said honestly.

She started rummaging through her pack. “I have some dehydrated food left over…I made some friends in this really cool dimension a while ago, and I told them about foods from earth and they made me travel meals!”

Ford chuckled. “You are the only being in the universe that could have aliens making you dehydrated spaghetti.”

“Here,” She said, pulling two pouches out. “I’ll whip this up.”

  
“And you can tell me all about your adventures,” He said, smiling warmly at his niece.

She beamed at his praise and nodded her head.

Night fell soon after. After a bowl of dehydrated oatmeal with apple slices (which almost tasted better than the real thing, interestingly enough) Ford drifted off to sleep beside Mabel. Smiling, she walked around him and sat at the mouth of the cave, feeding the fire and keeping watch over her newly-recovered family.


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper had a horrible pain in his neck when he woke up, but he supposed that was to be expected after falling asleep on a book.

  
He sat up and stretched. It was six in the morning; Stan wouldn’t be awake for another two hours which gave him enough time to go upstairs and make believe that he had spend the night in his room instead of in the lab. Stan was strict about Dipper eating, sleeping, and socializing outside of working on bringing Mabel and Ford home.

So Dipper went to school, he ate whatever Stan concocted in the kitchen, he played board games with Soos and Wendy. But still, for a few hours of the day (And sometimes of the night when he was sure that Stan was asleep), he managed to sneak down to do more research.

Not that there was much research to do.

Dipper yawned and trudged towards the elevator, traveling up to the main floor of the Shack.

To his surprise, Stan was sitting at the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee in front of him.

“Oh- hey,” Dipper said, trying (and failing) to sound innocent.

“You know you’re not supposed to stay down there,” Stan chided.

“I know,” Dipper said, slumping into the seat beside him at the counter. “I promise I slept.”

“I don’t doubt that. You’ve got one hell of a bedhead.” He pointed out.

“Well, I may as well- hey!”

  
Stan snatched the coffee pot out of his great-nephew’s hand. “No coffee for you. You’re going upstairs to sleep for another few hours after this,” He said. “Here, you can have orange juice.”

“Ah, what?” Dipper whined, watching Stan pour him a glass of discount orange juice.

“You heard me,” Stan said, sitting back down. “C’mon, drink up.”

Dipper dutifully took a sip.  
  
“You know what would be better than coffee?” He said after a moment. “Mabel Juice.”

Stan chuckled. “You’d be up for days, and coughing up rainbows to boot.”

“Where did she even get plastic dinosaurs? She didn’t play with dinosaurs.”

“Ford used to,” Stan remembered. “Back when we were kids, he would make dia- well, dia-somethings-“

“Dioramas-“

“Those too. He would use those and complain about how they weren’t accurate to the time period, how this nerdy lizard wasn’t alive when this nerdy lizard was alive. Enough to drive a man up the wall.”

Dipper laugh, but his smile turned to a grimace, like it always did when they talked about their siblings. It had been two years since Mabel and Ford had fallen into the multiverse. Two years of research and experimenting and hopeful, fervent prayers, not to mention all of the stories that Stan told Dipper’s parents when he persuaded them to let Dipper stay in Gravity Falls.

And whatever he told them to explain Mabel’s absence. Dipper was afraid that someday, they would have to go so far as to fake Mabel’s death.

“What’s wrong, kid?” Stan asked. “You look like I just killed your pet diorama.”

Dipper sighed. “I- I just…Stan, what if she’s…what if they’re dead?” Dipper asked.

Stan sighed. “I knew that was going to come up eventually. I’m surprised it took this long.”

Dipper drained the last of his orange juice and set it back on the table, dejectedly staring at the bottom of the empty glass.

“Look, kiddo, I don’t know for sure, but…” He shook his head. “All I know is that Ford wouldn’t let anything happen to Mabel. And Mabel, without even knowing it, makes everyone around her stronger and better. Just like you,” He added, cuffing Dipper’s shoulder. He smiled, just barely. “So I think it’s worth trying. I think it’s worth keeping on.”

Dipper nodded his head. “I think you’re right.”

The two sat in silken for a second until Dipper yawned.  
  
“Go get more sleep. Now,” Stan said. Anyone else in the world would have taken this statement as a command from a crotchety old man. Dipper, however, knew what he meant to say. It was Stan’s way of saying “I love you,” and it came in many forms. “Eat more, string bean” or “do you have to listen to that so loudly?” or “if you don’t turn that light off in five seconds, so help me God” were some of his favorites.

“Alright. Don’t save them without me,” Dipper said.

Stan watched Dipper climb the stairs to the attic, struck, for the hundredth time, at how much he had grown. It seemed like only yesterday that he was a scrawny. skittish twelve year old. Now, he had grown about a foot taller, lost all of his baby fat and gained a humble amount of PE-class-induced muscle, and was sprouting a thin, scruffy beard on his chin and cheeks. Stan taught him how to shave almost two years ago, but he only noticed Dipper using a razor once every few weeks. Lucky he couldn’t grow a real beard to save his life.

Once he heard the attic door close, Stan topped off his coffee and went downstairs. He could squeeze in another two hours of research before the Shack opened.

There was work to be done.

oOo

The dawn brought about a magnificent sunrise, setting the sky alight with a thousands shades of red and orange and pink. The vibrancy alone was enough to wake Ford.

The previous day’s events crashed through his mind all at once, and a thick layer of doubt settled on top of them. Had he imagined it all? Was it all just a cruel, wonderful dream?

He sat up, feeling the bandages on his shoulder. Ad then he saw his Mabel, asleep at the mouth of the cave, the remains of last night’s fire smoldering beside her.

  
He smiled and, with no small effort, stood and walked towards her. He placed one of his blankets over her and sat at her side, watching the sky change.

Mabel shifted in her sleep, and for the first time, Ford saw, fully, how much she had changed and grown since he was separated from her six months ago.

Strands of her hair had been lightened by the many inter-dimensional suns, but it was still dark and hung around her shoulders and down her back in long waves. He marveled at how she had managed to go so long without cutting it.

And how she had managed to get bangs. She had bangs, for God’s sake! She hadn’t had bangs six months ago.

She was taller, he was sure that she was taller! Her skin was darker and littered with minor scrapes and bruises. She was stronger, he could tell.

But she was still his Mabel. She had the same wide brown eyes and long eyelashes, and cheeks as round and rosy as peaches in the Spring. Her smile was the same, still brighter and warmer than the sun.

This dimension’s sun rose completely, covering the ground in a golden glow. Mabel’s eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning, dear.” Ford said, reaching out and rubbing her shoulder.

“G’morning, Grunkle Ford,” She yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes “Wait! You shouldn’t be up, you should be resting!”

“I wanted to watch the sun rise,” He said.

Mabel sat up and placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t make me carry you back to my bedroll.”  
  
“You can try, darling, but it would take someone bigger than you to carry me,” he chuckled.

“How’s your shoulder?” She asked.

“Better than yesterday,” He said. “As long as I don’t jostle it too much.”

Mabel smiled. “That’s good. Do you feel up to some gathering? There’s got to be something edible in this dimension, and I’d like to save the dehydrated food for emergencies.”

  
Ford, in all honestly, was already weak from his short walk to the mouth of the cave, but Mabel was right. They had to find food somewhere, and in his heart of hearts, he couldn’t bear to be apart from her again.

“Of course,” He said. “I’ll follow you.”

The two gathered their things and left the cave, entering the lush forest beside their camp. The tall trees and cool mountain air was strongly reminiscent of the woods by the Mystery Shack.

“Do you think it ever stops raining here?” Mabel wondered, looking up at the sky. “It’s been at least drizzling ever since we got here.”

“It’s more than drizzling now, dear,” Ford observed.

Surely enough, the rain was getting heavier. The plentiful cover from the trees kept them dry, only the steady pitter-pattering of raindrops on the leaves serving as reminders that rain was indeed falling.

Lighting flashed against the sky, then a clap of thunder shook the ground.

“We picked a poor time to explore,” Mabel said. “But hungry brains make hungry brain thoughts.”

Ford chuckled. “I don’t think we’ll be in any dange-“

And then a branch snapped, sending a tree limb towards the ground with a sharp crack.

“Goodness gracious!” Mabel gasped, throwing a hand over her heart. “That scared the- Grunkle Ford?”

Ford’s chest was rising and falling, his eyes fixated on a point far away.

“Grunkle Ford, are you alright?” Mabel asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Ford collapsed. Mabel fell to her knees beside him.

“Grunkle Ford!” She cried. “Grunkle Ford, what’s wrong?”

He was shaking, his chest heaving with short, labored breaths.

  
“Grunkle Ford, please talk to me, tell me what’s wrong! Can you please, please tell me what’s wrong? I can fix it, I promise!”

In her pocket, the Doorator began to vibrate. She took it out and looked at it; the button on the side was emitting a soft blue glow. Wrapping one arm around her Grunkle, she pushed the button.

Her stomach dropped and she felt like she was being squeezed through a tube. It felt almost like jumping into a different dimension-

They had jumped through a different dimension. But how? There hadn’t been a portal, she hadn’t felt a new one opening…

Then she looked at the ground beneath her feet. She and Ford were standing on a soft, white ground that glimmered in the sun.

Mabel’s head shot up, she had been here before! This was the Cloud Dimension, this is where the Cloud people lived!

And she was at the bottom of the Cloud Castle steps, she remembered staying here with her friend-

“Mabel?”

She turned, there he was! He was at the door, he had seen her, or heard her, or knew that she needed help!

“Freriate!” She cried. “Freriate, can you help me?”

“Of course,” Freriate, one of her favorite Cloud People, said, walking (floating) to Mabel’s side. “What happened?”

“I- I don’t know,” Mabel said, looking at Ford. “We were just walking in this forest place and a tree branch fell and my Grunkle collapsed and I need your help!”

“Of course,” He said, his glowing eyes fixed on Ford. “Here, come inside, we’ll have one of our healers look at him.”

“Thank you,” She said, placing Ford’s arm around her shoulders and helping him stand. “C’mon, Grunkle Ford. Let’s get inside.”

Freraite led Ford and Mabel into the Cloud Castle. The castle itself was built from the same material that the streets were paved with; a beautiful, gleaming white mineral that was almost like marble, but softer and less prone to cold. All of the halls were lined with tall, gleaming windows that showed the beautiful azure sky, and the stairs to the infirmary were lined with gold.

They reached the infirmary when Ford’s breathing started to calm. Mabel’s own heart stopped thundering in her chest.

“I’m fine, love,” Ford said when she sat him down on one of the fluffy white beds. “Really, I’m fine now.”

“Now, now,” the healer said, strolling over towards them. “I’ll be the judge of that. It’s good to see you again, Mabel.”   
  
“You too,” she said, not remembering the healer upon her first visit to the Cloud Kingdom. “This is my Great Uncle Stanford, by the way.”

He bowed his head respectfully. “Mabel, would you mind giving us some privacy?”

“I-“ Mabel started to protest.

“Mabel,” Freraite said, “I swear on my own life, your uncle will be just fine in Hadu’s capable hands. And I have some questions for you.”

Mabel looked at Ford and reluctantly left the infirmary.

“His breathing is back to normal,” She said as soon as they were alone. “I just…I don’t know what to make of all of this- I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t found me.”

“Don’t fret about that,” Freraite said. “Both of you will be safe here.”

  
Mabel managed a small smile. “Thank you, Freriate. You- you look well.”

Truthfully, Freriate looked as bizarre as he had months ago, but that was to be expected. Cloud People looked somewhat human; at least they walked on two legs, but their four arms and eight-fingered hands were more than enough to remind her that they were far from human, not to mention the powder blue skin and three golden eyes on Freriate’s face. Freriate wore a shining silver circlet on his long, painfully-bright golden hair (which Mabel strongly suspected would feel more like sunbeams than human hair, if she ever managed to touch), a testament to his nobility; Freriate belonged to one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the dimension.

“Thank you. You look well,” He returned. “Now, about your great uncle, this is the one you told me about? The one you were looking for?”

“Yes, I just found him yesterday, he was…he was with this- this chain gang-“

“Chain gang?”

“It’s like- like a group of slaves, and they were making him dig this hole, and he collapsed, and one of them ran towards him with a whip…” her lower lip began to quiver.

“Now now,” Freriate said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s alright now. Don’t you cry, dear one.”

Mabel nodded her head and forced her breathing to calm.

“He’s with you now,” Freriate said softly. “And you two are both here, under our protection.”

She nodded again, finding herself smiling in spite of everything. She and Grunkle Ford were together again in the most beautiful dimension she had ever seen.

And they were safe. They were finally safe and finally together, and that alone was enough to make Mabel feel like she was almost home.

Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup. The support for this fic so far is so encouraging! Thank you thank you thank you! And thank you for reading! As always, leave Kudos and comments if you feel so inclined xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

Dipper liked to sit on the steps at the back entrance of the school after his last class of the day, and he had decide that it was by far the best place to sit; the balance between shade and sun and soft breeze was perfectly intermingled here. Stan had gotten used to picking him up at the back entrance, so he normally had about ten minutes to kill between school and going back home.

But today, a visitor was sauntering towards him, clad in a baby pink sweater set, a pair of tailored skinny jeans that hugged her hips, and a pearl necklace that probably could have funded a month’s worth of groceries. She wasn’t smiling, but she almost never smiled. Dipper had to catch her off guard for something like that.

“Hey, Pacifica.” He said, looking back down at his book.

“Dipper,” She said primly, sitting beside him.  
  
There was silence between them, per usual. Dipper and Pacifica weren’t exactly friends; they were no longer enemies, especially now hat they were attending the same high school and were, on some level, alienated from their classmates. Dipper hadn’t been surprised by that; he had gone to a different school entirely for his enter life and Pacifica had been sipped off to boarding schools until her family had their fall from grace.

The aftermath of which still kept her in pearls and designer blouses, mind you.

“What’s up?” He asked.  
  
She crossed her legs and glanced up at the sky. “I don’t know why you always sit here. There are like, benches.”

Dipper chuckled. “I like it here. And you wouldn’t sit on a bench if your life depended on it.”

“You can sterilize benches,” She reminded him. “It’s easier than it looks.”

  
“You’ve never done it.”

“Yes, but I’ve watched, so I know how it looks.”  
  
He laughed again. “So, what’s up?”

“Prom is in a couple of weeks,” She said.

“Yeah, I’ve seen the posters,” Dipper said.

She rolled her eyes. “God, for the smartest kid in our class, you’re dumber than a bag of sand.”  
  
“What? All I said was-“

“Do you want to go?” Pacifica snapped. “Do you want to take me to Prom?”

“I- well, now I’m even more confused.” Dipper admitted, finally closing his book. “You want to go to Prom with me?”

“Well, no one else wants to. I guess everyone kind of remembers the whole ‘my family was a poison to the town and I’m lowkey a bitch’ thing.”

Dipper chuckled. “You’re actually asking me to go to Prom?”  
  
“It’s a right of passage,” She said evasively, flicking a blonde curl off of her shoulder. “And I already have a dress, so I’m not going alone.”

“Alright, then,” Dipper said. “Prom. You can count on me.”

  
“Good,” Pacifica said, standing and brushing off her jeans. “My dress is cameo pink, by the way.If your vest, cummerbund, or tie is baby pink or orchid pink, you’re walking to the dance. And God help you if you show up in magenta.”

Dipper laughed, even though he knew she wasn’t joking at all. “Alright, alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Pacifica left without saying goodbye, her hips swaying.

oOo

Mabel was allowed to see Ford a few minutes later; Freriate waited with her in the hallway until his doctor peeked his head through the door and nodded to Mabel.

“Don’t you think this is an overreaction?” Ford asked her as she walked into the infirmary, gesturing to the bed he occupied. “I mean, I’m not infirm.”

“But you did collapse,” She said, sitting beside him. “Are you mad at me?”

“For handing me over to a doctor? No, my love.” He said. “I’m just glad we landed somewhere safe.”

“Do they know what happened?”

“I think I’m just weak from the- well, from the last six months. I just need to rest, and I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Mabel nodded her head, her brow furrowed. “You didn’t tell me you were feeling weak this morning,” She said after a moment. “You told me that you were fine to walk.”

Ford nodded his head. “I know, and I’m sorry, Mabel-“

“I can’t lose you again, Grunkle Ford,” She said, her eyes filing with angry tears. “I can’t- I can’t lose you again, I can’t do this alone anymore, I just can’t-“

Ford reached forward and pulled Mabel into his arms, placing her head on his chest.

He was getting older. He had spent thirty years in these many dimensions, hopping between them like an inter-dimensional rabbit, his only concern being his own well-being, which fell to the wayside early on, one way or another.

But then he and Mabel got sucked in again, a terrible by-product of the almost-apocalypse, and he had to put her first. He _had_ to make sure that she was alright, that he had enough food to keep her strong and clothes to keep her warm...

He remembered the first time he had almost failed at doing so, duringÂ their first month in the multiverse, when he and Mabel had stumbled upon a dimension and she had fallen ill, she said she felt nauseous, her body shook, and her forehead was hot to the touch...one of the locals there, a sticky, orange alien with antennae and sickly, bulbous eyes, had sold Ford a medicine, saying that it was a fairly mild disease for their people, but he didn't know how it would effect Mabel, since she was so young and of a different species. He advised him to get far away from their world; that she had a higher chance of recovering somewhere else.

So Ford had taken Mabel away, found a cave in a far-away world, one that seemed to be deserted of all life. He built a fire and wrapped her in anything he could find; blankets, animal skins, his own coat...

But her fever wouldn't break. No matter how many cold compresses he laid on her sweaty forehead, how much water he coaxed down her throat, how many times he followed the alien's instructions and administered the medicine he purchased correctly, she still kept shaking, her skin remaining as hot as a stovetop.

He remembered one of those nights he stayed up to keep the fire fed and watch her, when he realized that Mabel might not get better. His darling niece could die, could die from this disease, despite everything he had done. Tears gathered in his eyes; he had done everything he could do, everything he knew...

And how could he lose her? What rich irony, how could two trips to the Multiverse leave him mostly unscathed, but prove fatal to his sweet, brave, strong niece?

He wiped tears off of his face and looked back down at Mabel, her chest rising and falling with short, shallow breaths. He gently pushed a sweaty lock of hair from her face, and something moved inside of him, unearthing a memory he didn't remember having of a song he didn't remember hearing.

But still, he knew every word, and they rose to his lips easily, the fact that he hadn't sung in years be damned.

_There are places I'll remember_

_All my life, though some have changed_

_Some forever, not for better_

_Some have gone, and some remain_

Mabel stirred on her bedroll, turning on her side. His eyes filled with tears again.

_All these places had their moments_

_With lovers and friends, I still can recall_

_Some are dead, and some are living_

_In my life, I've loved them all_

_But of all these friends and lovers_

_There is no one compares with you_

_And these memories lose their meaning_

_When I think of love as something new_

Ford considered the existence of a higher power. He remembered going to temple with his family when he was young, remembered the yamaka he still kept in his top drawer, remembered a few Hebrew blessings that he used to recite more out of habit than anything else.

_Though I know I'll never lose affection_

_For people and things that went before_

_I know I'll often stop and think about them_

_In my life, I'll love you more_

_In my life, I’ll love you more._

Ford vowed, silently, to the universe, to _Yahweh_ , to Mabel, to himself, to everything and nothing at all, that if Mabel pulled through, if she kicked this disease’s ass the way she did every monster that threatened her when she was younger, that he would never, ever let anything happen to her ever again.

He took his niece’s hand and kissed it before feeding the fire and falling into an exhausted, dreamless sleep at the mouth of the cave.

The next day, Mabel’s fever broke, and within the next few weeks, she recovered, was retuned to her smiley, sunshiny self.

But here he was, two years later, and he had broken that promise to her.

He sighed, the blinding realization that he was getting older setting in, that he simply wasn’t as…as spry as he used to be, and six months of slave labor had changed him, had weakened him. Mabel was the one who had to come to his rescue. It seemed like only yesterday that he was sitting at her sickbed, his heart full of worry for his treasure, for his dearest.  
  
He sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He said. “I- I was just foolish.”

Mabel sighed and sat up, out of his arms. “I just- Freriate said that we were welcome to stay here for as long as we needed to, and I think- I think that we should. Until you’re better, at least.”

Ford nodded his head. “Of course, darling.”

Mabel smiled and leaned against Ford’s shoulder.

“So- you call them Cloud People?” He asked. “Is it because they float around? Also, Hadu’s hair isn’t- it isn’t hair, is it?”

“Grunkle Ford,” Mabel giggled. “Just wait until you get a closer look at Freriate.”

oOo

Stan, surprisingly enough, thought that Prom was a great idea.

“Pacifica Northwest, huh?” He said when Dipper told him. “It’s nice that she’s gotten less punch-worthy.”

“Yeah, it is.” Dipper said. “I do need a tux, though-“

Stan immediately walked out from behind the sales counter. “C’mon, I’ve got something to show you.”

He led Dipper up the stairs to his bedroom.

“I wore this to my Prom,” He said, rummaging through his closet. "Obviously, we may have to get it altered, but it's one hell of a piece, let me tell you. Ah, here he is! Hello, handsome!"

Dipper's eyes widened when he pulled the suit, still hanging on its ancient hanger, out of the closet.

"You said her dress is pink, didn't you?" He said. "The whole suit will match!"

Dipper forced a smile onto his face. "Stan, isn't it- it's pretty vintage, isn't it?”

“Sure, it’s a little dated, but great style is timeless.” Stan said. “You’ll be the talk of the dance, no doubt about it. C’mon, let us see.”

Dipper stepped into the bathroom, rubbing the thick polyester between his thumb and fingers. He sighed and put it on.

“It’s uh- a little roomy,” Dipper said, stepping out of the bathroom. “And itchy.”

“Hm,” Stan said. “Did it always look like that? Did it look like that on me? Explains why I never got asked to dance…”

“Also, did you spill something on this?” Dipper asked. “It looks like someone spilled something on- on your entire torso.”

“That was actually my doing,” Stan said. “Heh, I forgot all about that. Ford was trying to chat up some broad and- well, he never exactly had a way with women like I do-“  
  
Dipper stifled a laugh.

“And she was holding some punch- and, well, who am I to make Ford feel like the odd one out?”

  
Dipper smiled, despite the fact that he could feel beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead. Why was polyester so hot?

“Maybe we should rent you a tux,” Stan said finally. “You can wear this one on your wedding day.”

Dipper laughed and pulled off his jacket.

“C’mon,” Stan said, grabbing his keys. “I’ll drive you.”

“But- but the Shack-“

“Soon can take care of the Shack for a few hours. After all, it’s not every day that a man gets asked to Prom.”

Dipper smiled. “Alright, cool. Thanks, Stan.”

“No problem, kiddo.” He said, clapping his nephew on the shoulder before he left the room. “C’mon, that that thing off before it swallows you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! So, the positive reception that this has gotten has been? So nice? And so appreciated? Thank you so much for that! 
> 
> A FEW LOGISTICS  
> 1\. I really ~vibe~ with the Pines family being Jewish, so I threw that little bit in there bc I am the god of this small thing  
> 2\. The song is In My Life, by the Beatles. Because Ford and Stan grew up in the 60's when Beatlemania was happening, I figured that, by his own volition or not, Ford would have wound up knowing at least a few songs. Also, In My Life is really sweet and one of my favorites. Also I decided that in my world, Ford is musical and sings with Mabel and it's precious and there will be more of that in upcoming chapters.
> 
> Also, this is fairly non-related, but I am on Tumblr if anyone would like to contact me to ask questions or exchange thoughts! I would love for you all to be involved! SO: 
> 
> Main Blog: graefeboat  
> Fandom Blog: crownless-again
> 
> Also my Instagram is @carlylgraefe if any of you partake in that.
> 
> Friends, I cannot tell you how much your kind words mean to me. I have felt very motivated to write recently because of your Kudos and reviews. I understand that things in our world are tumultuous, but writing for all of you is a total privilege, and I cannot thank you enough for that.
> 
> Love you,  
> Mezzo

**Author's Note:**

> SUP. I wrote this and will continue to write more of this. Please leave your thoughts and kudos if you feel so inclined xoxo


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